


enchanted

by nanahoney



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: APH America - Freeform, APH England - Freeform, Cardverse AU, Just Awkwardness, M/M, Multi, Platonic Relationships, aph Scotland, aph usuk, awkwardness in the beginning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 22:51:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7593421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanahoney/pseuds/nanahoney
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>King Alfred being protective of Arthur, and also dealing with his brother in law.  </p><p>"The meeting shouldn’t be this awkward, Alfred knew. After all, Alistair was Arthur’s brother, Arthur’s brother who had just travelled the long distance from Hearts just to meet him, Arthur’s brother whom he knew from their childhood days spent playing together. Spent laughing and supporting one another. Spent being nothing short of best friends with a shared fondness and protectiveness for Arthur</p><p>And then Arthur’s family had moved away, to Hearts, when they were fourteen and they hadn’t seen each other since.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	enchanted

**Author's Note:**

> written for the usuk summer festival over on tumblr but i decided to also post it here because i actually kind of like it. hope it doesn't suck too much?

Silence reigned in the room.

Birds chirped outside. The wind rustled the browning leaves of the trees stretching in front of the window.

A branch hit the glass.

Alfred shot an (uncomfortable) smile at Alistair while he shifted on his upholstered seat and the rusty clock chimed noon in the background. The guards stood, completely still, in front of the large wooden door. Swords were  
grasped firmly in their hands.

The clock quieted.A bird flapped its wings and flew away.

Arthur was by his side, gripping onto the hands of his seat with force as he kept sneaking looks between Alfred and Alistair, then at the clock and back. Rinse and repeat.

The meeting shouldn’t be this awkward, Alfred knew. After all, Alistair was Arthur’s brother, Arthur’s brother who had just travelled the long distance from Hearts just to meet him, Arthur’s brother whom he knew from their childhood days spent playing together. Spent laughing and supporting one another. Spent being nothing short of best friends with a shared fondness and protectiveness for Arthur

And then Arthur’s family had moved away, to Hearts, when they were fourteen and they hadn’t seen each other since.

Alfred coughed just as another branch hit the window. (He’ll really need to get Matthew to chip it away) Alistair was - squinting at him would be the right word, watching him with small eyes under furrowed eyebrows and a scowl to his lips.

“Uhh, hey.” He managed to choke out eloquently. The piercing gaze (the same one Arthur had given him when the guards dragged him, trashing and cursing, into the throne room and made him kneel in front of him) made his skin crawl and almost squirm under it but he held his own, just stared right back with a proud arch to his back.

“Hey.” Alistair said after a short pause. His eyebrows furrowed even further. “Long time no see. You’re taking good care of my little brother, I take it.” A long sip of the tea in his porcelain teacup.

Alfred relaxed (only slightly - his hand still sought out Arthur’s to clam it in a sweaty grip because nothing could quench the knot, that tied his vocal cords in a knot and tightened almost painfully) and sent him a wry grin. The chair dug painfully into his back - he’d have to get that fixed because he doubted it was good on the tailbone.

“As good as I can, yeah. I’m trying.” He coughed and looked over at Arthur, who, despite rolling his eyes, was smiling a tiny bit around the edges, though he tried to play it off by hiding his lips with the rum of his own teacup, the steam curling around his nose and the liquid - golden brown - made a moustache on his upper lip. It was adorable. Inwardly, Alfred was swooning.

“I hope you didn’t come all this way just to interrogate Alfred.” Arthur said wryly, with another eyeroll, and Alfred couldn’t help the snort, that bubbled past his lips. Arthur’s eyebrows were furrowed in a glare mirroring Alistair’s own and, Alfred thought in a private part of his brain, it was vaguely terrifying yet somehow hot. He was honestly a bit torn. “I can take care of myself just fine, thank you.”

“Oh yeah? You say that, but who saved you from those thugs in the lower districts, when your stupid arse got lost and wandered there?” Alistair raised a challenging eyebrow. Arthur just sputtered in indignation and Alfred slowly started frowning, glancing between them in clear confusion.

“I- I had that perfectly under control! I would’ve gotten out even if you hadn’t have come and interfered!”

“You were bloodied and helpless on the ground.”

“S-shut up. I had that perfectly under control.”

“That shit aside,” Alistair waved him off and Alfred froze in his worried glance over at Arthur - because that was the first he had ever heard of that story and the possibility of Arthur… not making it… made blood freeze in his veins - when Alistair’s eyes were focused on him again, silently judging and flashing cold.

“You making sure he eats properly? Nothing with milk since he’s lactose intolerant. A cup of tea before he goes to bed - you making sure it’s camomile? - or he can’t sleep. Semi-hard mattress and he’s not in sunlight too much?”

“And he has his own garden outside.” Alfred nodded and beamed. “He has a nap every day after lunch for two hours before the meeting. Goes to sleep every day at nine.”

“Which is really uncalled for,” Arthur huffed. “I’m not a child, I don’t need to sleep at nine.”

“Nah, not a kid. Just a geezer.”

“W-what? You’re older than me!”

“Eh, really?” Alfred laughed and patted his back. “You sure you’re not just mixing things up? Yanno, since you’re old.”

“You are literally one year older than me, don’t give me that!”

When Alfred just laughed again and turned towards Alistair, the fact that the man was smiling with a soft light in his eyes made him stop mid-way, which startled Arthur into staring right at him, right at Alistair, who was showing the first real sign of any emotion at that moment (well, one that wasn’t resentment for Alfred and cackling amusement as he bantered with Arthur) and the Alistair, that they hadn’t seen in years, Alfred longer than Arthur. (Arthur told him he moved back to Spades after a big dispute between him and his family, something about his father blowing up in his face when he came out and honestly, Alfred could relate. Apparently, his mother cried and his father threw things and in the end, they disowned him, so he packed his bags and went to Spades completely by foot)

Arthur stared back with big, doe-like eyes and a mournful expression, his mouth slightly parted and suddenly, Alfred felt like an intruder to something big, something important, something Arthur deserved to have alone. Something he wasn’t apart of.

So, with a cough and a kiss against Arthur’s mouth, he stood up, whispered an apology, bowed to Alistair and declared his leave. The guards opened the big door for him. His silk coat dragged against the floor as he walked towards and ducked out of the room.

As soon as the door closed, Alfred heard a thump of the chair over-turning and, with a small grin, he knew he had done the right thing.

* * *

 

When Arthur came back into the bedroom, Alfred was hunched over his desk (he was pondering whether the import path between them and Diamonds should be open again) and a bit distracted, so he only murmured a “Welcome back” into the space and frowned. He had long since gotten rid of his formal attire, sitting in his lilac pyjamas at his desk and tapping the butt of his pen against the paper.

Warm arms circled his waist and Alfred smiled a bit, relaxing into the tender hold. He leaned back and his hair tickled against Arthur’s neck as his lips pressed small kisses over his jaw.

“Hey. What are you doing? Sorry I’m so late.” Alfred could hear the smile in his voice. It made him smile, too.

“Nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow. Just some boring paperwork.“ He complained with a pout, that crawled against his lips and made his cheeks puff in what could only be described as a childish manner. Arthur’s laugh bubbled against his back as he took off Alfred’s glasses and put them on the desk so he could comfortably kiss him.

"Good. Let’s go to bed, love.” Arthur murmured. Alfred smiled as another kiss pressed against his hair. “We’ve had a long day.”

“You mean I had a long day while you goofed off with Alistair.” Alfred playfully joked and nudged his ribs. Arthur probably rolled his eyes in answer, but he didn’t offer any words, so Alfred just hummed and stood up, throwing himself on the bed with dramatic flare. (And he nailed that landing - 10/10)

Arthur joined after a few minutes, void of his silk coat and his shirt unbuttoned to the third button. His legs pressed into Alfred’s, his chest pressed against Alfred’s back, and Alfred relaxed down into the covers as Arthur tugged them over them in an effort to keep warm.

To Alfred, just having Arthur there, pressed up against him, a human furnace against his back was enough. He was warm and comfortable and that was all Alfred would need.

With a blissful sigh, Alfred tilted his head a bit to burrow his face into Arthur’s cheek. “Mmm, warm…”

Arthur chuckled above him. “It’s late, love. You should sleep.”

“Mmm.” Alfred just murmured with a smile, yet made no attempt at actually following through. “G'night, Artie.”

“Good night, Alfred. Sleep tight.”

They stayed like that for a long while, until the moon was a bright crescent on the dark blue canvass of the sky and the city lights twinkled in the distance. The sound of wind was soothing and through the window opened ajar, fireflies sang soft melodies and lit up the sight of the dark forest stretching on below the castle. There were a few loud footsteps outside their door but other than that, the castle was quiet. A whisper could carry through it from the lobby up to the highest tower and still be loud and clear.

Arthur shifted a few times behind him and his cold feet pressed against Alfred’s but other than that, Arthur remained still. His breath caught in his hair sometimes, luke-warm. If Alfred had to guess, this was probably a bit like Heaven.  
But Alfred couldn’t sleep, not with his mind still on over-drive, unable to putter down and get caught with the claws of sleep, as Alistair’s words repeated in his head and made something in his insides go cold.

_“Oh yeah? You say that, but who saved you from those thugs in the lower districts, when your stupid arse got lost and wandered there?”_   
_“You were bloodied and helpless on the ground.”_

It was just - the very idea of ever losing Arthur, be it in a fight or to disease, left a bitter taste in his mouth even before he fell in love with Arthur, when he was a nine year old brat taking on martial arts in one of the local dojo’s because Arthur got backed in a corner and robbed, so he came to him and cried into his shoulders for ages. When he still saw Arthur as his childhood best friend when he took on swordsmanship from the Ace, and when he first protected him from danger.

And now, knowing he was so close to actually losing him at one point kept him from sleep.

Arthur shifted against his back and his lips brushed the tips of his hair. “Oh yeah,” Arthur’s voice was thick with sleep. “Dylan and Genevive are coming over next week, apparently. God, I haven’t seen them in so long.”

Alfred allowed a smile. “That’s good. I know how much you miss them.”

“Miss them? Me? Where did you get that idea?”

“You’re always staring at that picture of them in your bedside drawer when you think I can’t see you.”

“Oh.” Arthur coughed and rubbed at his eyes. He seemed to stutter for something to say, before he huffed out a breath and tightened his hold around Alfred. It made everything better, the cold gnawing at his stomach, the heavy feeling in his chest because Arthur was alive, Arthur was there with him and everything was okay.

But, he still wished he could’ve protected him, done something to help him even if he was miles away. He hated feeling helpless, especially about Arthur. He loved him more than anything, after all.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Arthur broke the silence after a few minutes and Alfred’s mind stalled long enough for him to process what was asked of him, but not long enough for a filter to be placed between his brain and mouth.

“I was just thinking of what Alistair said.” He admitted and immediately wished he hadn’t, because Arthur nudged his nose into Alfred’s hair and his hands suddenly drew comforting circles just above his belly button. It made him relax in his hold.

“Which part?” Arthur asked into his hair, though the slow smile, part sad and part comforting, sliding into place told him he knew just what Alfred was talking about.

Alfred huffed and looked up at the ceiling. Moonlight played on the frayed cracks. His eyes softened as he whispered, a bit ashamed to say it aloud. Somehow, his thoughts seemed selfish now that he admitted them out loud.

“About you getting lost and, yanno. Beat up. And that you…” He couldn’t say it. His hands shook, fisted into the cotton covers, clammy with sweat.

Arthur sighed against his hair - it tickled his scalp - but he just pressed closer. It was somehow comforting, feeling the heartbeat steady against him. Alfred looked down again. “Alfred, that was years ago, when I was sixteen. I lived in Hearts then and you know it. There was nothing you could do.”

“I know that!” Alfred gulped and just looked at his hands. They were still shaking, still buried in the covers, still clammy. “I know that.” He repeated, softer this time. Arthur whispered his name behind him. “But - but you could’ve died! You could’ve died and I wouldn’t have known. You could’ve died and I wasn’t there to help you. And you never told me, either!”

“I’m sorry, I just…” Arthur slowly let out a breath. “I just didn’t think it was that important, love. Plus, you were so far away, you shouldn’t be blaming yourself for not protecting me.”

Alfred knew that, technically. But it refused to register in his brain and it made guilt gnaw at him whole until there was nothing left and he felt hollow. “I’m sorry, I’m just…” He took a deep breath to steady himself. “Just, when I thought about losing you… I got scared. I can’t lose you, Art. I love you. I want to keep you safe and I know it’s selfish, but I wanna protect you even if I know you can do it perfectly fine by yourself. I always…” A gulp. “I always wanted to be your hero and honestly, that never changed. Not even after you learned how to kick ass.”

He paused for a second before he, in an attempt to lighten the mood, grinned and nudged him. “Your sword skills are awesome and watching you fight is honestly so hot.”

Finally, Arthur relaxed against his chest, though he started sputtering and swatting at his head, shrilling about sleep and shame - or, Alfred’s lack of thereof, rather.

Alfred just laughed and slipped his eyes shut, allowing himself to push those thoughts away. He still had the whole afternoon tomorrow to brood over them, after all.

(And even when he did so the next day, during breakfast and the meeting, he let himself admit to himself that as long as Arthur was alive, it really doesn’t matter, because there was nothing he could do to change the past.)


End file.
